


Welcome Home

by ColorInPlatinum



Category: 9 (2009)
Genre: Character Study, headcanon heavy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-26
Updated: 2016-09-26
Packaged: 2018-08-17 09:29:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8139080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColorInPlatinum/pseuds/ColorInPlatinum
Summary: when our world ended, their war began.





	

**Author's Note:**

> you know those long-distance special interests that you never think of until someone mentions it off-hand or you see the movie again? welcome to that.

1 awoke with a start.

The world around him was bright, green, lively, and the man before him, though old, was just the same. The detail with which the Creator spoke to him, such colorful language, such earnest emotions, it made his insides flutter. The Creator lavished him with books and films, but 1 found himself enamored with religious texts. Bibles, studies on ancient deities, even hymnals and Psalms. The Creator watched his little creation for hours, jabbering on about the wonders of the world beyond their home.

But 1 soon realized that the Creator, and their spacious dwelling, was becoming haggard. The world outside grew less bright, less quiet. Cars honking and birds singing, once a harmonious dissonance, turned to silence, peppered with the distant sounds of gunfire.

The Creator told 1 that a war was starting, and that he was not long for this world. 1 would have to lead the remains of humanity on his own, and save the world single-handedly.

The Creator began working tirelessly, and eventually a second appeared, creatively christened 2. 1 and his new companion had little time to get to know one another, however, as their word changed abruptly after 2's birth.

1 remembered hiding, with 2 cowering in confusion and fear behind his arm, behind a stack of books as their Creator was ripped from his workshop, his home, his family. They were thrust into silence, alone and with nowhere to go.

2 suggested they leave the home, try to find their master, and though reluctant, 1 agreed. He donned a pen-cap for an armored hat, and 2 brought with him a homemade spear, and they entered the dying world of mankind.

The place was sick. Poisoned. 1 would have wept for the loss of these imaginative creatures if he were capable.

They soon found that the humans were too busy fighting hulking, monstrous machines to pay them mind, which often resulted in injury or near-death. 1 was always there to assume his role and keep 2 out of harm's way, but his companion was venturing further out every day. They wondered if their Creator was still alive, still making more of their kind, and thankfully they didn't have to wait long for answers.

Her name was 7, and she was lost but not alone. The Creator had made four more before her, but she had no idea of their whereabouts. According to her, she woke alone, with a note from the Creator telling her to run and find the others. 1 was certain she was lucky to have found him first. She reluctantly agreed.

1 and 2 quickly discovered that 7 was more headstrong than the two of them combined. She rushed into the wastes, into no-man's land, without hesitation. 1 constantly scolded her for it, his protective nature becoming more controlling than anything else. He begged her to stay with their group, but she vanished into the wastes in the dead of night, apparently never to return.

8 came after, with 7's return, and soon they found the remaining four; twins, not much younger than 1 and 2, a shy fellow who proved himself useless when he lost his eye almost immediately after leaving the protection of his hideaway, and a quiet one with pen-tips for fingers. No one knew why that was, and asking did nothing to help.

1 tried to tell his group that the sanctuary they had found was once known as the cathedral of Notre Dame, but only 3 and 4 seemed mildly interested.

Their first night at home was filled with shouting; 7 disapproved greatly of 1's apparent negligence, and blamed him for the loss of 5's eye. 6 approached them, a piece of paper torn from a burnt book in his hands. It was scribbled with a messy ink drawing, one of a massive creature with a single eye that sends a chill down 1's metal spine.

He scolded 6 for drawing such disturbing material and ordered 8 to watch him the rest of the night. He insisted it was to keep morale from dropping any more than it already has, but 7 spat that he was being just as bad as the machines outside.

But years have passed since that night, and now 1 sits on a decaying throne as he looks out over his court. 8, his faithful knight; 6, the court jester; 5, the informant; 2, the meddler. The torn calendar page stares him in the face, 7, 3, and 4's charcoal X's burning into his optics, but he ignores it.

2 asks him if they'll go looking for 7 again. 1 tells him that 7 is gone, and she won't be coming back. 2 asks him if he plans on salvaging the small library the twins once had. 1 tells him they have no need for such drivel. 2 asks him if he would mind helping to collect 6's latest batch of drawings. 1 reminds him that 6 is no longer allowed to draw anything he hasn't yet approved.

2 asks, and asks, and asks, and ASKS.

2 asks him if he is scared of what might be outside. 2 asks him, if the Beast is already hunting them, are there more monsters out there? 2 asks him if he would mind granting him permission to study 6's drawing of the Beast, to understand it better.

1 tells him to pack his things.

2 asks him why. And for once, 1 doesn't respond.


End file.
